I finally moved to a self-directed IRA and here’s what happened

[Nichole Stohler]

Sometimes you just need the easy button.

A way to meet all your investing requirements.

From someone you trust.

That was me.

My requirements? I needed to find a passive real estate income stream that would work within the IRS' self-directed IRA (SDIRA) rules. I wanted consistent better returns than the stock market. And, I wanted to work with someone I could trust.

Trust… well that’s tricky isn't it? How do you figure out who you can trust to handle your money?

Let me back up a bit.

I had a Roth IRA that was going nowhere. This account stayed at the same number for years but I didn't really think about it. Maybe you can relate? It didn't seem like a big deal to just leave it. I couldn't touch it for a long time and it wasn't that much money. Except -- it could be worth more if I put it somewhere else. Now, I had to figure out how to move the funds. And, where should I invest?

At first, I looked at the various real estate crowdfunding sites. There’s many to choose from. In fact, too many. I found myself overwhelmed with all the options. Probably got into a bit of analysis paralysis at this point.

Around the same time, I caught a BiggerPockets podcast featuring Dave Van Horn on note investing. Notes? Now that was a side of real estate that I hadn’t explored. In the podcast, Dave shared his background in real estate, how he got into note investing and why he started his company - PPR. I was curious to learn more and liked the idea of niche diversification outside of my current active real estate business.

At this point, I’m in information overload between where to invest but also what custodian I should use to manage the SDIRA. Have you ever read Amazon.com reviews and wondered how anyone ever decides which product to buy? There are just as many negative reviews as there are positive.  This is what I experienced in trying to decide on a custodian.  Dave’s team saved me from all that. Besides answering my questions on PPR’s note investing options, they gave me a custodian recommendation. And guess what??? There were no bad reviews for the company they mentioned. Yes, I still did my own due diligence but PPR saved me hours of additional research.

Perhaps the biggest reason I ended up working with PPR is because of the BiggerPockets community validation. I saw what others had posted in forums about their positive experiences. And, I read Dave’s blog posts which are featured on BiggerPockets. I liked his perspective, his approach to investing and his “voice”.

So how has it been? Easy.

• Investment returns automatically deposited on a regular basis.
• Questions answered in a timely manner.
• Excellent customer service.
• Investor education events.

I'm glad I finally did something about the small Roth IRA that was flat-lined for many years. Now that everything is moved over, I have no idea why I put it off for so long.

If you are looking to direct your IRA into real estate, what types of investments are you considering? For those that already use a SDIRA for passive investments how has your experience been?